Rail bond



March 5, 1935. F. H. NEFF 1,993,618

RAIL BOND I Filed Jan. 30, 1951 flan/E jfji eff A TTORNEY5.

INVENTOR. Y

Patented Mar; 5, 1935 UNITED STATES RAIL noun Frank H. Neff, South'Euclid, Ohio, assignor to The Electric Railway Improvement Company,Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 30, 1931,Serial No. 512,280

6 Claims (Cl. 173-278) This; invention relating as indicated to railbonds, has specific reference to a form of rail bond constructionparticularly designed to be secured to the base of well known forms or"rails by first preliminarily mechanically supporting such bond on therail and then permanently attaching the same thereto by depositing metalin a molten state on such rail base in contact with the terminals ofsuch bond which will suitably unite such rail base and the bondterminals. This invention relates more specifically to a form. of railbond construction employing in association with the terminals thereof,hook means for thus preliminarily mechanically supporting the bond onthe rail preparatory to depositingthe vide a form of rail bondconstruction which shall have numerous advantages incidental to itsconstruction and use which are not found in any bonds as heretoforemade, such,'for example, as a reduction in the number of parts requiredin the bond terminal, facility in assembling such parts in themanufacture of the bond, and finally ease in application to the rail.invention will appear as the description proceeds. To the accomplishmentof the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of themeans hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in theclaims.

The annexed drawing and the following'description setforth in detailcertainmechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed meansconstituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which theprinciple of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. l is a fragmentary side elevational view of abutting rail sectionsshowing the bond com-.

prising my invention mounted thereon; Fig. 2 is an end View partially insection of the rail illustrated in Fig. 1 showing the bond comprising myinvention preliminarily attached thereto; Fig. 3 is an elevational viewof the bond illustrated in the previous figures; and Fig. dis aperspective view of the hook means associated with the bond disclosed inthe previous figures.

Referring more specifically to the drawing and more especially to Fig.l, the bond comprising my invention is designed to be employed as ameans for electrically connecting longitudinally adjacent rails 1 and 2,which will be mechanically united and supported by means of plates suchasv 3 and bolts such as 4. It will be noted that the Other objects of myrails and their associated securing and supporting. means form no partof this invention which relates specifically to the construction of thebonds for electrically connecting such rails.

The bond comprising my invention consists of a flexible stranded bodyportion 5 which has sheathed terminal portions 6 and 7 provided with vrebent portions 8 and 9 which portions are positioned adjacent to theedge of the rail base 10 in a manner such that the two edges, rail baseand edge of terminal, form a wide seam which is run with welding metalto unite terminal to rail.

My invention relates specifically to the pro' vision of hoo-k means suchas is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 4, which hook means consists ofa, rebent body portion 11 provided withterminals l2 and 13 adapted tolberespectively secured'b-y' welding, or the like, as most clearlyillustrated in;Fig. 3, to the sheathedterminals 9 and 8 of the railbond. With the hook member so secured to the'terminals of the bond, suchbond may be preliminarily mechanically supported on. the base 10 of therail, as most clearly illustrated'in Fig. 2. After the bond has beenthus preliminarily secured to the base of the rail, suitablemolten'metal will be deposited intermediately of the rebent terminals 8and-9 of the bond and the base 10 of the rail, so that such terminalswill be rigidly and permanently securedto such rail base.

It will be noted that the form of bond construction resulting from theemployment of the hook means joining and interconnecting the terminals 8and '9 of the bond results in the maintenance of the terminals thereofin proper relative position before assembly, so that the preliminaryinstallation of the bond preparatory to the depositing of the moltenmetal to permanently secure the same is considerably facilitated.

A further advantage resulting from the employment of the hook meansinterconnecting the terminals of the bond resides in the increasedconductivity provided by such bond without a sacrificeof any of theresilience thereof which enables the' rail ends 1 and 2 to moverelatively to each other without destroying the electrical connectiontherebetween.

The provision of the means for preliminarily mechanically securing theterminals of the rail bond to the base of the rail at only one end ofsuch terminals, considerably reduces the interference of such securingmeans with the operation of sub. sequently depositing the molten metalto perma nently attach the bond to the rails. The provision of the hookmeans adjacent only one side of each of the terminals eliminates anyenclosed areas which heretofore have considerably interfered with theuniform depositing of the molten metal for securing the bond to therail. Furthermore the open end of the terminals opposite the areas withwhich the hook means is associated enables the molten metal to bedeposited much more expeditiously than has been possible with anyconstructions heretofore employed.

The above, described form of construction has further advantages such asthe reduced cost of manufacture, the increased efficiency of the op-'eration of the preliminary securing means, and the superior constructionof the resulting bond and rail connection which are believed to besufliciently apparent from the preceding description so that a moredetailed enumeration thereof is unnecessary.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employedinstead of the one explained, change being made as regards the detailsherein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the followingclaims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed. 1

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a rail bond having a body portionand terminals on the ends of said body portion for attachment to a railor like object, said bond having a combined conductor and hook meansmechanically and electrically connecting between said terminals forpreliminarily supporting said bond on such rail and constituting apermanently integral part of the bond.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a rail bond having a flexible bodyportion and terminals on the ends of said body portion for attachment toa rail or like object, and an integrally connected member bridgingbetween said terminals to mechanically grip the rail base forpreliminarily supporting said bond on such rail.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a rail bond having a flexible bodyportion and terminals on the ends of said body portion for attachment toa rail or like object and a hook member for gripping suoh rail forpreliminarily supporting said bond, said hook member having two endseach being permanently integrally connected to a respective terminal.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a rail bond having a flexible bodyportion, and terminals on the ends of said body portion for attachmentto a rail, said bond having a combined conductor and hook means betweensaid terminals rebent to hold on the base of said rail for preliminarilysupporting said bond thereon.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a rail bond having a body portion,and terminals on the ends of said body portion for attachment to a rail,said bond having a combined conductor and hook means mechanically andelectrically connecting between said terminals for preliminarilysupporting said bond on such rail and constituting a permanentlyintegral part of the bond, said means being longitudinally yieldablewith movement of the ends of the rail.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a rail bond having a flexible bodyportion, rebent sheathed terminals on said body arranged to cooperatewith r the base of the rail to which said bond is to be secured to forma securing metal retaining means, and a hook member connecting andsecured to adjacent faces of the rebent portions of the terminals andhaving a rebent U-shaped body to grip over the edge of a rail base forpreliminarily sup-- porting said bond on such rail.

FRANK H. NEF'F.

